snow dayzzzzz

we have had *so much snow* this winter.
craziest thing ever.
i guess the groundhog and the persimmon seed were right.
this is a very wintery winter.
especially for the south.
i don't think we've had a good snow in 3 years.
i guess we needed to make up for that.

this current round o' snow.....winter storm maximus, i'm told..... has been so. pretty.
it started while we were in church yesterday and was pretty much a winter wonderland by the time we made our 5 mile trek home.
it's that super powdery, big flakes, with sunny skies...perfect kind of snow.

although a bunch of our fun plans for yesterday were cancelled, it did turn out to be a perfectly lovely day of staying at home and cozying up with my faveys.

today was a sunny day and not too cold so the kids and i decided to take a trek back behind our house for some snowy adventure.

there are woods and a creek behind our house.
the boys kept saying, "it's narnia!"

one of our favorite things is outdoor exploring so this was just bliss.
ruby is happiest outside so she was pumped to be out in the snow.

we tasted a little bit of that perfect looking snow, but not too much since the last big snow we had this winter, finley ate so much of it that he got a stomach ache.
#lessonlearned

we were so excited to make it to the creek.
sawyer really wanted to get in it.
i took that as a teaching moment on why we don't get in creeks in the winter. :)

we spent a good while down there throwing snowballs into the creek.
i had a death grip on the back of ruby's coat but she did still manage to face plant it in the snow once.
luckily, she was so happy out there that it didn't phase her much. :)

this was the best snow day.
the only thing that would have made it better was to have AJ home.
but i cannot complain...it was a really great day.
plus my sweet neighbor took the boys sledding for an hour in the afternoon so they got sledding fun and i got some sweet quiet time.
i'm sure the extra vitamin D today didn't hurt either. :)

and just to give you a smile on this cold winter's night....i am going to humble myself and show you my hot mama snow outfit.

oh yes. hot-tay.
AJ's ginormo pants {no, my legs are not that big} stuffed into my winter boots.
80's-tastic coat.
scarf hanging out.
men's gloves.
not pictured here: my giant bug-eye sunglasses.
i was a sight to behold.
thankfully, only my kids, neighbor kandice & the birds got to see this special look.
......and now the internets. you're welcome. your night is now complete. :)
sweet dreams.....


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who are we?

this past week our school had it's first ever talent show.  

it was so great.

a far cry from the talent shows we had when i was in elementary school. 

i'm pretty sure i did a dance routine to "oh lolli, lollipop" that some friends and i made up at recess. 

yep. 

cool kid, i was not. 

anyhow, it was a really entertaining show and it was so great to see the different acts.

so proud of them all! :)

a group of our 5th grade boys did a stomp routine called "who are we." 

they learned the routine and even how to stomp in under 2 weeks {thanks to my really talented mama-friends who taught them}.
it brought tears to my eyes to hear them calling out who they are in Christ.
i hope they always know and stand on those truths. 

very proud of these sweet boys.  :)

proud mama's supporting our boys......

these girls are God's gift to me.
so thankful for their encouragement and friendship.

avery loved learning how to stomp.
so glad that he got this opportunity and so proud of my boy!

okay, here's the video of our boys {thanks callie for recording it!} 

{if you're reading in a reader, you'll have to click over. ;)}

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their scalps are still pink

have y'all run a color run?
that looks so fun.
i really want to do that.
except i totally quit running since my last race.
i reeeeally need to get back to it.

guess i should take my own running advice and sign up for a race.

anyhooooooo, i am getting off on a running tangent but i wanted to talk about color.
specifically color like they use in color runs or the festival of colors in india.
that also looks super fun b.t. dubs.

our friend, chelsea, was home from india this summer and she brought our boys some india color.
they have been dying to do it, so on a chill evening, i said ok and we busted out the color.

it is pretty fun actually and i probably should have been a really fun mom and joined the fun, but i opted to keep my distance and take pictures. :)

i told them to find old clothes in case it stained so disregard their outfits. ;)

we sure do like gettin' messy around here.

ha. i love those silly boys.

i love their giggles and sweet, simple joy.
they are easy to please and that is one of my favorite qualities about these kiddos of mine.  :)

so i really hope to go through the hundred some odd pics i took of ruby's bday and share them sometime this week. oh my they are girly.

until then....have a great day y'all. :) Pin It

oh, good grief.

well today started off with a bang.
literally.

i was so looking forward to a calmer week after our crazy week of toting kids to and fro during basketball camp.
also, we had a very full day yesterday.
like fall in bed in complete exhaustion at 9:30, full.
good.......just, full. 

anyhow....so if you follow me on instagram, you saw this amazing marble topped side table that i posted last week......

i love it.
it is the perfect little table that i had been looking for to put beside my chair in our bedroom.
nice and small and vintage and just dang pretty.
well, i received two of them, so the other one was sitting in our dining room {that's the first place it landed} waiting to go to the booth.
i have gone to my booth twice since i got that table and forgot to grab it both times.
ugh.
it was in the worst possible spot...right by where you walk.

several times i have walked by it and thought, "that's a terrible spot for that, one of the kids could pull that over on their foot."
note: the marble top is not connected, it just rests on the base.
and of course, i left it there because i was probably thinking about ten other things at that moment.
seriously, i'm sure God was nudging me to move the dang thing and i didn't listen.

so on to this morning, we're all getting ready to head out the door and i hear AJ yelling for me.
he's saying "Sara! come right now!"

you know what happened.
sawyer tripped and fell into the table and the marble top {weighing at least 5 pounds} falls onto his foot.
ugh....that makes my stomach hurt just typing that.
his toe looked terrible. 

i tend to panic when one of my children gets hurt but i knew i had to get it together and take care of the situation.
somehow i washed his pitiful little toe.
i was shaking so much.....there was so much blood and it just looked awful.
i wrapped it up the best i could, AJ worked out a way for him to ride in the car with his foot elevated and we were off to the ER.

thankfully we were seen really quickly and we hardly had to wait any time for x-rays.
sawyer is such a tough little guy.
once we got to the ER he stopped crying and didn't cry again.
he has a little taggie blankie that he sleeps with.
he kept wringing it with his hands or gnawing on it, but he never cried.
i knew it hurt but he was so, so brave.

they had to wash his toe and move his foot all around on the x-ray table and he did so great with everything....never made a peep.
i would have been crying if it were me.

so there may be a little fracture in his toe...they couldn't tell for sure, but they wouldn't treat it anyway, so they didn't re-do the x-rays.
he will lose the toe nail and i am praying that it grows back properly.

seriously this kid is amazing.
they said he did better than most adults.
i believe that.

so he spent the day watching movies.
i changed his bandages every time he bled through them....i will spare you a picture of his toe.
you're welcome.
i'm praying that his little toe heals amazingly fast.
it still looks really awful and i want him to be able to enjoy summer time and run and play again soon.

i have felt so horrible that i let that happen to my baby and could have prevented it.
it makes my mama heart so sad.
i hate to see my boy in pain.
but i'm just going to have to let it go....because it did happen and i can't change that now.
i'm praying that i will listen when i hear God's voice...
and be obedient.


things i am thankful for:

he didn't lose his toe {seriously. i was nervous}.
i was with him and could be the one to take care of him.
this didn't happen yesterday {father's day/swim party/slipnslide w/ neighbors}.
tyelnol with coedine.

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ballaz.

hey y'all.
it's been a crazy week around here.

our big boys had basketball camp at jbu  so our "schedule" was all upside down.
finley went for a half day and avery went all day...getting home about 9 every night.
i woke up on monday and thought it was friday. ha.
no bueno.
on wednesday, i woke up and said "it's the last day of basketball camp."
it ended thursday.
yeah...so it's been a weird, long week.
i am so so happy that my boys got to go...but i am also happy to chill out a little bit. ;)

the great thing was that they went with 6 other providence friends so the mamas were able to carpool these little guys to get them to and fro all week.
they had a great week and loved it so much.

at the end of avery's camp they had an awards ceremony.
avery won the "golden eagle award" {for good heart and attitude all week} out of his entire age group.
so, so special and a really big deal.
they said it was all the awards combined and it is something that all the coaches voted on.
we are so very proud of our boy.
if he could win any award, that is what we would want.

he also won a gatorade shot of the day award that day so it was a pretty good day for avery. :)
so thankful that God blessed my boy in that way.

love these sweet providence boys!




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father son retreat

a few weeks ago AJ and avery went on a father and son retreat with a few of our providence friends.

they had the best time and although i so missed them being gone for an entire weekend, i am so glad they went.

they got lots of good father son bonding time and did all kinds of boyish stuff all weekend.

like skeet shooting.

it was avery's first ever time to shoot a "real" gun.
pretty. exciting.

avery is so brave and did a zip line off a thirty foot pole in the pitch dark with no flashlight.
he also did a big swing called the screamer.
that boy has no fear. never has.

i think it was also really nice to have our friends there with them.

slightly jealous and makes me really look forward to family camp coming up in two weeks.
have i said that i love camping? i do. :)

i am so very thankful to have such a good man to be the head of our home.
our children are so blessed.



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instafriday

i like instagram.
it's simple. pretty pictures. not a bunch of junk.
{i don't however understand all the parents letting their pre-teens have their own account...but whatevs....i guess everybody gets to parent their own children how they want..... ;)}

i'm itsgoodtobequeen if you'd like to follow all the exciting times of the queen & her court. :)

so here's a smattering of the last few weeks . . .

spring soccer.
not for the faint of heart.
it's been cold and drizzly every. single. saturday.
also how does my sweet fin look so old?!

this little thing brings us so much joy.
her sweet smile makes my day.
and she is loving her first ever painted toenails.

more ruby.
eating cereal like such a big girl.
oh her little hand kills me!

cozy house on a rainy day.
we are really starting to feel at home here.
we are loving this house and feeling settled. so happy.

also, in typical arkansas fashion, the weather has been nutso.
80's one day, cold and rainy the next.
in fact, it's snowy and cold today.
honestly though, i haven't minded it.
it gives me an excuse to be in my sweats all day and cozy up with my sweet kiddos.
plus i like it that our Maker is so unpredictable.
just a reminder that He's in control, not us. :)

love notes.
13 1/2 years later and we still can't get enough of each other.  :)

last saturday was the first in what seems like forever that we've been able to sleep in & wake up slowly with our kids.
i love snuggling with my girl in the morning.
p.s. by sleeping in, i mean like 7:00. :)

then we got up and at 'em and got some cleaning done.

a productive morning makes this mama happy!

big time saturday night lego building.

that's how we roll.

aunt tonya bought the boys paper mache' kits.
yeah.
okay so yes, it did give them a solid hour of entertainment....but seriously, the mess.

on the bright side, we had a nice day for painting their creations, outside, so alls well that ends well.
still tonya, i'm buying your kids moon sand.

split peas, measuring cups, muffin tins....perfect to keep a busy little girl occupied.....and apparently her big brothers too.

i got the idea from someone else on instagram...except they were using rice.
seriously, it was amazing. she played with it for a solid two hours.
best idea ever.

sweet friends.
meliyah is such a great helper and so so sweet with ruby.
love these two girls to pieces.

well hip hip hooray it's friday.
have a great weekend friends!




linking up with instafriday here.....




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